


A Walk in the Snow

by Squarepeg72



Series: Off the Pages [21]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Vacation, Emotional Hurt, M/M, Secret Relationship, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:47:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21729274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squarepeg72/pseuds/Squarepeg72
Summary: A winter holiday turns into a disaster after dinner at a local pub. Can Marcus and Oliver fix their relationship before one of them freezes his stubborn arse off in the cold and snow?
Relationships: Marcus Flint/Oliver Wood
Series: Off the Pages [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1074237
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42
Collections: Festive Friends Collection 2019





	A Walk in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starrnobella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/gifts).



> My second story for our Festive Friends Collection is for Starrnobella. Letting two hotheads like Marcus and Oliver go away for a holiday could be a recipe for disaster. But, then maybe not so much a disaster as a good, hard conversation. Hope, you like what happened in my head.
> 
> Thank you to GaeilgeRua for her beta help and all my writing family for their encouragement. Any errors after she looked it over are my own.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone recognizable from the HP world. I am not making any money off of this. (I usually for get to put this in)
> 
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/148170750@N07/49191692847/in/dateposted-public/)  
> 

_“Bloody hell, Marc. I canna do this any more…”_

Oliver pulled the collar of his jacket around his ears and walked through the gate. He could hear the freshly fallen snow crunch under his feet as he walked away from the cottage. He had to get away from the cottage before he said any more. He was frustrated with Marcus’ need to keep their relationship quiet. Sooner or later, someone was going to figure it out.

He probably should not have picked a cottage on the shore of Loch Leven for this holiday. The Northern Highlands was not always a place to visit if you were going to depend on your magic to get you anywhere. But, it was quiet and isolated, and he could walk in the woods with Marcus without worrying about running into anyone from work or from the Daily Prophet. They could also go to Nevis Range or White Corries if they wanted to ski or snowboard. He had it all planned. Then, dinner happened…

A quiet booth at the back of the pub in the Clachaig Inn. Just the two of them. Perfect. Until Marcus return to the table from the loo white as a sheet. “We have to go.” he stuttered as he tried to pull Oliver up from the bench. “We have to go before they recognize us. We have to go…”

“Marc, slow down,” Oliver had tried to catch his breath as Marcus continued to tug on his arm. “What is going on. Who did you see?”

“Potter and Weasley. They’re here.” Marcus continued to stutter as Oliver stood to wrap his arms around him. “Potter was hanging up her coat as I was coming out of the loo. We have to go…”

“Marc, love, calm down.” Oliver pulled Marcus’ head into the crook of his shoulder. “Just breath for me for a minute. We have nothing to hide. We are just having dinner at a pub. It wouldn’t matter if Potter saw you. He wouldn’t say anything.”

“I’m going to be sick.” Marcus shivered in Oliver’s arms. “Take me home, Ollie. Just take me home.”

_“What the hell did you expect me to say to that…”_

Marcus watched the door close as the last words Oliver had shouted echoed through the cottage. This was supposed to be a holiday for both of them. A time to wind down and not worry about being seen. A chance to be a normal couple enjoying a normal holiday. He should have known better.

Oliver wanted to stop hiding their relationship. There were several same-sex couples in their circle of friends, but there was a part of Marcus that still felt the need to keep Oliver to himself. He finally had the position he had always wanted in the Foreign Affairs and Sports Department, and Oliver’s career was going well. All they had to do was stay out of the spotlight and enjoy each other’s company, But, Oliver wanted more…

Oliver had driven back from the pub because Marcus was shaking so hard. Once they settled onto the sofa in front of the fire in the cottage they had rented, the fight had started.

“Marc, are you ashamed to be seen with me?” Oliver’s voice cracked as his hurt bled into his voice. “Are you that afraid of what people will think that you can’t even be seen with me? What is so wrong with telling the world we are together?”

“Ollie,” Marcus laid a hand on Oliver’s leg. “I am not ashamed of you. I am very proud of everything you have accomplished, it’s just…”

“Just what, Marc,” Oliver’s burr thickened his voice as he interrupted. “Just that a son of the sacred twenty-eight canna be seen with the man he swears he loves. Canna hold his hand when they walk down a path in the wilds of the Highlands where _NO ONE_ will see them.”

“Ollie, it’s not like that,” Marcus struggle to get his thoughts out without upsetting Oliver further. “When your career is over and…”

“And, what, Marc.” Oliver stood from the sofa and began to pace in front of the fire. “And you are afraid of what people will say about a man in your position being linked to a man in mine. I just want to build a life with you.”

“It’s not that easy.” Marcus ran his hands through his hair. “There are expectations and rules. Obligations I have to meet.”

“We fought to change those rules after the war!” Oliver shouted as he grabbed the knob on the front door. “Just think about it, Marc. What do you want? Me and the life we could build or the struggle of keeping this secret.”

“Ollie, wait!” Marcus’ voice drifted behind Oliver, and he stormed out of the cottage and into the snow-covered garden. “We need to talk about this. Bloody hell, you are going to freeze if you don’t get back in here.”

_“I canna hide who I am or who I choose to spend my time with…”_

Oliver kept hearing himself rip into the man he loved. He had let his frustration get the better of him. Rubbing the small velvet box in his pocket, Oliver thought about ways he could fix what they had just broken.

“You are a bloody idiot, Oliver Wood,” he muttered to himself as he walked down the lane towards the village. “You know better than to press Marc into a corner. He will come out swinging.”

Oliver stopped at the break in the trees and looked out across Loch Leven. The loch was ruffled by the breeze that had started to blow as Oliver had walked away from the cottage. The further from the cottage he got, the more Oliver regretted the way he had left it. He had brought Marcus here to start a new chapter, not burn the book they were already writing.

“Time to get out the mending kit.” Oliver shrugged the collar of his coat back up over his ears. “You have to get him to forgive ye before you can ask any more of him…”

_“Merlin’s beard, Ollie. Get your head out of your arse and talk to me…”_

Marcus searched the cottage for the keys to the car they had rented. Oliver had taken off, and it was getting ready to snow again. He needed to get Oliver back to the cottage before he froze his stubborn arse walking to the village.

He knew Oliver was right about some of the things he had said. Marcus was afraid of what others would think if they knew about their relationship. He had spent years listening to his parents and their friends tear apart those witches and wizards that were brave enough to live their own truth. He needed to figure out how to escape his father’s voice in his head.

“Marcus Flint, you bloody fool,” he grumbled as he pulled on his coat and opened the cottage door. “Your father is dead, his friends are rotting in Azkaban, and Oliver loves you. What the bloody hell are you doing?”

Marcus wished for a wand that worked as he struggled to get the car door open. He was beginning to wish they had picked a place where the magic in the land around them didn’t interfere with the magic they could shape. He hated driving, and it was going to be bloody difficult to track Oliver down without a tracing spell. Marcus was just going to have to hope Oliver stuck to the road when he had left the garden.

“Time to go and find my stubborn Keeper,” Marcus muttered as he turned on the car and turned up the heat to high. “If he isn’t a bloody popsicle by the time I find him, I might let him ride home in the car with me.”

_“Where in the bloody hell do you think you are going in this mess…”_

The quiet of the loch was disturbed by the sound of a car creeping along the snowy road. Oliver looked back towards the sound. His time for thinking was up. Marcus has gotten the car out of the drive and was following him towards the village.

He had two choices, he could fight with Marcus and freeze his arse off in the cold and snow, or he could swallow his pride and get warm in the car. They were going to have to talk about what was going on anyway. Gripping the box in his pocket, Oliver turned and waited for Marcus to catch up to him.

“Marc, what are ya doing here…”

_“Just get in the damn car…”_

The car was filled with the sound of the heater blowing on full blast. Marcus wanted to make sure the car was warm enough to thaw Oliver’s stubborn arse. His time for hiding was up. Oliver was right, it was time to step into the light with their heads held high. Now all he had to do was get the love of his life into the car.

He had two choices, he could ask Oliver to get in the car and forgive him, or he could just follow him until he got to the village. Marcus preferred that Oliver not freeze to death before the next round of snow. It would not look good if someone in his position let one of the most well known Quidditch players freeze to death on his watch. Marcus pulled up beside Oliver and rolled down the window.

“Ollie, don’t argue with me…”

With Marcus' words, Oliver made his decision.


End file.
